David Prejean: Pat Cooper takes low road in response to Nancy Mounce

As one who follows Lafayette Parish School System issues mainly through the media, I feel that I don't have enough information to have an informed opinion about the turnaround plan or who is in the right in Pat Cooper's dealings with the school board.

I do know a little about logical fallacies, and, based on Cooper's Nov. 13 guest column reply to Nancy Mounce's Nov. 4 column criticizing the state's school rating system, I can safely say that he is very skilled in the straw man fallacy.

This is where one distorts or ignores one's opponent's original points and "refutes" the inaccurately portrayed issues.

The simplest way to refute an argument is to restate it and then offer evidence to contradict it. But Cooper doesn't do this. Instead, he takes advantage of the fact that most people will not go back and read Mounce's column. He then mischaracterizes her positions in order to discredit her, rather than address the points she's making.

Cooper says that "the truth is that according to either set of numbers, our teachers and principals are doing tremendous work and deserve all the credit in the world for their success." A very good point that was not brought up or challenged in any way in Mounce's column and one with which I'm sure she would agree.

Similarly, his three bullet points may all be true statements, but they have nothing to do with the points made in Mounce's piece. His third point does touch on "bonus points," which Mounce talks about, but only offers his opinion on the matter - not a refutation of her point.

As to his assertion that Mounce called the 100-in-100-out plan "infamous," he is correct on this point as that is a quote from her column. But one can hardly call this anything more than an observation, not a sign of a personal agenda. (It's certainly understandable that he doesn't think the plan is "infamous.")

Throughout the piece, Cooper implies that Mounce wants something other than a "full accounting of the true facts" and that she is somehow denigrating the efforts of the "teachers and principals who are rightly proud of what they've accomplished" when even a cursory reading of Mounce's column shows nothing of the sort.

As far as I know, Pat Cooper may be the best superintendent LPSS has had, but when I see someone resort to cheap debating tactics to refute constructive criticism, well ? let's just say it's not confidence-inspiring.

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David Prejean: Pat Cooper takes low road in response to Nancy Mounce

As one who follows Lafayette Parish School System issues mainly through the media, I feel that I don't have enough information to have an informed opinion about the turnaround plan or who is in the

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